Apparatus for handling articles



2 tS t1 A2 Shea s hee A. WINKLER ET AL APPARATUS FOR HANDLING ARTICLES Filed Dec. 18, 1928 April 22, 1930.

- 43 47 fifilm erzfors.

kw W .mm H u m D,

3 WM n April 22, 1930. A. WINKLER ET AL APPARATUS FOR HANDLING ARTICLES Filed 1360.18, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 22,1936 v V 1 ii I p v ALFRED wrn'KLEn Ann MAxQnnmv BrER, or unuwrnn, GERMANY p I A1 1=nRA'rUsFoR HANDLING ARTICLES p -App1icatio'n filed December 18 1928; Serial No; 326,793, and in Germany February 28, 1927.: j'lhis inventionrelates to improvements in feed mechanism 3 or in other suitable man or mod ficatlons of: the apparatusywhijch er. "The belt 3 communicates withi an in formsthe subject matter of the application clined slide twhich delivers to a continuously for Letters Patent Serial 'No.. 326,792, for; movlngjendless band 5,;and-mounted over the a 5 automatically setting upright 'sweetmeats,' band 5 areguiderails 6 connected by means 55] fondants and othergarticlesgand delivering of screws 8 to end rails9, 10, the said rails 6 I theinto a coatingmachine'or' other similar extending fromthe slide :4 to a grating-7.

j machine and, a primary object of theinven- The rails 6 are bent in wavy-form along their tlon'is to perfectjthe apparatus described in entire length and as far as the slide l land j 20 Fig,2isaside-elevation ofamodifiedform well known manner. The pieces" are there- 10 the aforesaid; application'so that its satisfaw; swing-only aboutth'e pointat whch they are 60 tory operation on sweetme'ats and the like of fixed to the cross rail 9, which latteris seallrkinds and shapes is ensured. a V cured to theside frames 11 of the machines.

' Difierent constructional embodiments of The, other ends of the guiderails 6 directly the present invention are illustrated byway engage the cross rail 10, which serves the p'ur-Y' ofjexample the accompanying drawing, in pose, of moving them backwards and for l which H I wards. i It is connected infthis case with the '7 Fig. lis a partplan ofanapparatushaving arm 12, which is directed towards theright guide railswhich swingw about one of their of the two-armed lever which lies in a hori- I ends, I I 'zontal plane and isrocked in any suitable or -70 of apparatus in which the/conveyor band fore intensively-shaken directly-they; reach:

swings transversely to its direction of travel, theconveyor, band 5 fromthe inclined slide while the guide rails are moved backwards 4, Which isjprovided with partitions 14 formand forwards-parallel to the direction of ing channels 13. The transversemovement travel 1 r a g V r r of theright hand'end of the guide rails 6 need Fig 3 is a plan of the apparatus shownfin not be very great, because, owing to the coni.

Fig. 2, v 1' r 1 I v vergent paths and wavy formof the guide Fig. 4 shows the inclinedslide between the rails, the pieces, which-naturallytend to move charging container and the conveyor band in ;ina straight line with the band 5, are com-- 0 section along the direction of travel of-the pelled to be continuously meeting-the rails 6.

pieces the parts connected by the slidebeing This" relatively small transverse'movement of V V I v also shown, this slide, :with or without the;- thepgu'ide rails 6, in combination with the r V guide rail receiving slots, applies to;the yaform of construction of the slide hwhi'ch is I rious modifications; Q ::.-her'einafter, jzdescribes f prevents the p eces V ;F ig. 5; is a plan of the inclined slide viewed reaching one of the trac s Whi h they are not at rightangles to 4, i I i :1 V lntended to reach. 1 a

' 'Fig. 6 is a section through the inclined slide In the apparatus ac'oordingto Figs.'2 and V transversely to the path ofthe'pieces on the 3 a more lntensive shaking of'the pieces on I line A-r-A' of "Fig. 4; and viewed atxright the conveyor band 5 is efltected bygiving the angles to this line, and V a r V conveyor band 5 itself a" backward and for- 7 Fig. 7 isa similar section on the line lB.B" wardi'movement transverselyto' its direction a V f Fi v. r; -of travel and the guide rails 6 a similar move- Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawing, the yment but n the same directionas the direcs i apparatus comprises'a receptacle lrsubdividedf ion Of t v of h bimd- For this P1 1 into individual chambers by meansofwallsfthe following arrangement is employed. 2. Thebottom-of this-receptacle isiformed The table 15 which carries the conveyor by a conveyor belt 3 which slopes downward-A, band ,5 and in'which the guide rollers 16, 17, ly towards the rear, i. e. tothe right'i-n the 18, 19-and 20 of the band are journalled, rests drawing, andhas a suitably roughened surwith itsle'ft endina frame 21 which has in 1m face, this belt being operated by intermittent the central axes of the table a downwardly wheel 34 which drives, through the agency projecting arm 22 having a vertical bore. The sides 11 of the machine, which are inthis case of frame-like construction, are connected together by means of a bridge 23, which carries at its centre a column'24 on which the arm 22 rests and is guided by a bolt 25. In this manner the table and the conveyor band 5 which isconducted over it can be swung about the bolt 25. The right hand end of the table 7 i5 is also fastened in a frame 26 the cross rail of which runs under thetable and is connected in the centre of the table with a secondlower frame 27 by means of a bolt 28. This lower frame 2? isinserted over the shaft 29 of the band pulley 30 in such a man:

ner that the latteris guided exactly :between its sides. Each of these sides of the frame 2-71 carries an arm which is inc-lined obliquely downwards towards the right and a cross-rail 31 connects the two arms together. Thus, ac-

"cording to what'has previously been stated,

byriioving the lower frame 27" on the shaft, 29-the'ba'nd pulley- 30 is also moved, beingse-f cured for this purpose on the shaft by means of key. On such a movement of the'lowe'r frame27 taking placethe upper frame 26 r moves with it and simultaneously turns about the bolt 28. Since the lateral movement of trouble, and furtherit may be neutralized by p carrying theroller in a suitable yielding 1 1bearing,'which is not however indicated in T the drawing for the sake of clearness.

The backward and forward movement of; the pulley: and the right hand end of the table is carried out in the following manner.

The shaft 32 of the friction disc 33 carries atthe opposite end to the latter a bevel of: a second bevel wheel 35, the shaft 363(0- gether with the eccentric37 fixed: on its right;

hand end. A crank or connecting rod 38 c0- acts with" the eccentric 37 and with its otherend with the cross-rail 31which connects the I arms of the frame 27. It is clear that in this way by driving the friction 'disc 33, aback ward and-forwardmo'v ement of the frame27" together with the pulley 30-vandi the frame '26 which carries theright hand end of-the table is effected. The eccentric 37 isadjustable so that the. stroke of the. drive for moving the table can be varied; r Instea'd'of the above-described backward f and forward movement ofthetable, a circula-rmovement having a similar effect may be produced by means ofa suitable arrange merit, without departingfrom. the scope of;

the invention. 7

Forthe-slmultaneous backward and forward longitudinal movement of the guide rails 6 the following arrangement is employed. All the guide rails 6, of which onlyithe two outer rails are shown in Fig. 3, extend with their left hand ends over the guide roller 39 of the coating grid 7 and rest there with a projection 40 provided on their lower surface on ametal plate 41 which is arranged above the guide roller 39 at the same height as the conveyor band 5 and is fastened to the two side. portions 42 of the frame of the machine; Tlhese side portions 42 are so high that the cross rail 43, which connects the guide rails 6, can be guided with its ends between them. The right hand end ofthe guide rails 6 is also connected by a cross rail 44,

which lies at each side of the table 15 on a slide 45which is screwed to the table; in this manner the guide rails are held at a Small distance from the conveyor band-46 owing to their lying on the one handon the metal plate 41 and on the other hand on the slides Pins46", in which theslots of the levers 47 engage, are-provided inthe two ends of the cross rail 44. These levers are fixed on a shaft 48 which is journal'led in the two frames of the machine; The lever47 on the left hand side fofthe machine facing the'onlooker 2) is formed as an anglelever-,'and a crankrod 49 movably engages'i-n a slotin its other arm. 7 T hisrod is connectedwith the friction disc 33 ,which is at the same timeconstructed as an eccentric, in suoha manner that the backward and] forward longitudinal movement of the guide rails 6 is produced by its rotation. By adjust-ing the rod 49 in the slot of the left hand lever 47 the stroke of this 7 longitudinal movement can also be altered; The metal plate 4101 which the left-hand ends of the guide rails rest has forits primary object to ensure that the work-pieces are transferred from the conveyor band 5" onto it so that they are arranged in close succession in rows upon it. They are there'- fore received by the coating grid'Tat equal distances apart, which distances can be r'ege ulateda-s desired by suitably adjusting the 1 speed of the movements of the coating grid-7 and of. theiconveyor band 5;

' Thedrive of the pulley 30 is also mars case: effected from the friction disc 5O- th-rough the agency of'its shaft 51;,the pair of bevel wheels 52, 53, the shaft 54, the worm 55Land the worm wheel 56, which is fitted. on

the shaft 29 of the pulley 30. The friction discs 33, '50 are'dri-ven by means of suitable ad ustabIe friction wheels not shown; and the'driveof the conveyor-band3 in the receptacle or charging container 1 is effected in any suitable. manner so that the relative speeds may be Varied to suit requirements. All'these dIlVlIig arrangements are of any convenient or well known type and are not illustrated in the drawing, more particularly asthey= are not shown in side view at Fig. 2', bum-for the of importanc e for the present 7 invention. 5 I I The feed'ibelt 3 and the inclined slide 4 are sake of clearness' are' omitted from Fig; 3. The drive for the belt 3 may be effected intermittently through suitable known means from the shaft 32 of the disc 33, the upper roller 57 of the belt being operated bythe feed mechanism 3. In Fig. 2 the shaft 58 carlies in the known manner a number of round brushes adapted to be turned for the purpose of removing obstructions at the outletsfrom the receptacle 1 .7 v 7 In Figs. 4-7, the new construction of the inclined slide 4is illustrated. This effects the transfer of the pieces from the conveyor band 3 of the receptacle-or charging container 1, which conveyor band is guided over the roller 57, onto the conveyor band 5, so I that they arrive in the guide tracks formed by the guide rails 6;" r

The slide 4 is provided with concave hollows 6 corresponding in number to the number. of the guide track s. .At' its'upper edge where it abuts against the conveyor. band 3 of'the charging container 1 these hollows are very fiat and-of such a width that they are separated only by a narrow and low projection 0. Towards the lower endwhere the slide 4 leads to the conveyor band 5 the depth of the hollows Z2 gradually increases and their width gradually decreases (see Fig. 6). The projections 0 between the hollows on the other hand increase in height and width towards the lower end of the slide and the dividing surface between them is shaped simi larly to the ridge of a roof, so that the pieces are prevented from lying on their surfaces; Inthe example illustrated pins d are fitted alternately higher up and lower down, i. e.,", staggered, in the dividingsurfaces of the projecting partitions c. If now a-piece'a from the conveyor band 3 arrives on the slide 'inthe position illustrated in Fig. 5 and its end knocks against the pin (Z, this side of it is held up by the pin and it is compelled to turn, so that it'next assumes the dotted position a so as to free itself entirely from the pin d. Then, owing to the action of the partition walls of the hollows, which walls are increasingly'inclined as they approach the lower edge of the slide, it is compelled to lie longitudinally inthe hollow and to slide down into the position a", and to reach the band 5 between the guide rails 6, whichconnect with the lower end of the slide. As may be seen, the width of the proj ectingpartitio'n 0 atthe lower end of the slide 4 allows the rails 6 to makea sufficiently great transverse movement without there being any danger of the pieces arriving in the wrong guidetrack.

According toFigs. 4and 5 the rails 6 are adapted for movement in, a longitudinal di- 7 rection as in the arrangement shown at Figs.- 2 and 3, the rail ends being causedto engage slots in the under part of the slide'4; and it will be-und-erstood that where the rails are adapted to move crosswise-as in the form 0 at the loweredge of the slide is'such that this movement of the rails is permittediwithout'danger of the pieces entering intothe wrong'spaces between the rails.

If the projecting partitions c are not made of uniform length up to the upper end of the slide as shown in the drawing, but-each alternate one is made shorter than the slide and is broken off with its surface projecting above the slide, then thepinsd are obviously I superfluous and the same result will be ob tainedwithout them. What we claim ,is w 1. Apparatus of the character described for. the supply of articles in an upright position, comprising conveying means for the articles, guide rails of wavy form, and means for imparting side movement to the conveying means articles. p i v 2. Apparatus of the character I described for the supply of articles in an upright po sition, comprising conveying means for the art1cles, gu1de rails of wavy form, means sition, comprising conveying means for the artlcles, guide railsof wavyform, means for' imparting 'to said conveying means movement in its own plane and in a circular path, and means formoving the, rails 'back-' wardly and forwardly ina direction parallel to the direction of travel of the conveying means to shake the articles onthe conveyingv means.

4. Apparatus of the character described for the supply of articles in an upright poin its'own plane toshake the said;

for imparting side movement in its own plane to .said convey ng means, and'means forwardlyin a direction parallel to the di- I rectionof travel of thecon'veying means,-to shake the said articles. V

- 3, Apparatus ,of the character described 7 sitionfcomprismg conveying means for the articles, guide rails of wavy form, means for producing a relatively transverse movement between the guide rails and the conveying means, a container for the articles, and an inclined slide for receiving the articles from the container and for delivering them to the conveying means, this slide being formed with a plurality ofchannels which convey the said articles, said channels being wide and shallow at their receiving ends and narrow and deep at their delivery ends.

5. Apparatus according to claim'4, comprising partition walls formed on the said slide between the channels, these walls being of inverted V-shape in cross-section, and increasing in width and depth from the receiving to the delivery ends of the said channels.

6. Apparatus according to. claim 4, comprising partition walls formed on the said slide between the channels, and pins prof j-ecti ng from the said'walls and arranged in staggered relation to each other to engage the articles in'the'manner described.

7 Apparatus of the character described for supplying articles in an upright position, comprising conveying means for articles, guide raiis of Wavy form, and means for producing .a relatively transverse movement between the guide rails and the conveying means.

:8. Apparatus of the character described for supplying articles in an uprightposition comprising conveying means for articles, an

inclined slide to supply articles to the conveying means, said slide comprising a plurality of channels decreasing in idth from the top to the bottom, said channels being separated by partition Walls increasing in Width from the top of the slide to, the bottom,

guide rails of Wavy form, and :means for produclng a relatively transverse movement between the guide rails and the conveying means. 7 1 V 9 Apparatus of the character described for supplyin articles in an-upright position,

comprising conveying means for articles,

guiderails of Wavy for1n,means for producnga relatively transverse movement between the guide rails and the conveying means,

means for receiving the articles from said conveying means, and a stationary surface 7 interposed between said conveying and renames to this specification.

( oeiving means, over which said articles are pushed 1n close succession by said conveylng means. 7 I

In testimony whereof we have signed o r ALFRED MAX Di'FNNEBIEB.

WINKLER. 

